Sewers and Smart Growth

"A coalition of business leaders and environmentalists has proposed...establishing sewer systems for dense development in town centers and proposing a $20-per-bedroom annual fee on residents. The proposal is also intended to eventually limit new construction of single-family houses that rely on individual septic systems, a radical departure for the Cape, because about 90 percent of dwellings currently use septic systems. The plan would also establish a new independent agency, the Barnstable County Water Quality Authority....The proposal has already drawn fire from developers of single-family houses, who are keenly aware that establishing more sewer systems and limiting individual septic systems will do more to change development patterns on the Cape than any of the regional planning measures or building restrictions that the late senator Paul Tsongas helped institute in the late 1980s...."

Thanks to Connie Chung